Deep Cavity filling hurting one week later

[myztikal47]

Hello all, I am glad I found this place for some advice and from reading the threads posted by others I hope I can get my question answered.

Last week I went to the dentist on 7/6/10 to get 2 fillings done in my last two teeth located on the bottom left of my jaw. My dentist said it was a deep filling and before the filling my teeth were hurting a bit so despite me never wanting to go to the dentist, I couldn't bear the pain anymore and got the fillings done.

The few days after the filling my teeth were extremely sensitive to anything cold which I know is normal and the dentist also told me this. All my pain was gone and everything was going great until saturday morning 7/10/10 when my jaw started to hurt.

It started out as a small pain but then it got more and more severe. It's not a sharp pain, but it is extremely bothersome and throbbing. By saturday night the pain had become pretty bad, I really though I would pass out from it, but again, it wasn't sharp, but throbbing. I was at work so I had no access to pain killers but when I got home, I took 2 tylenol and went to sleep.

When I woke up the next day, I felt a slight pain, but after being awake for an hour it seemed like the pain was back to where it was the previous day, extreme discomfort and throbbing, I could feel it in my jaw, and my neck directly below the jaw line but only on the left side, and even my ear hurts. Also my teeth were feeling sore when I was eating anything.
I took 2 more tylenol and the pain seemed to completely go away in all the areas including the soreness.


Since my dentist was closed sunday, I had to wait until yesterday 7/12/10 to call him and tell him what was going on. I told him my problem and told him that the tylenol would make the pain disappear, but as soon as the tylenol wore off which usually takes about 5-6hours, the pain comes back. So since sunday I've been taking tylenol and the dentist told me that I should just continue to take tylenol this week and if the pain doesn't get less then I should go back to him for a visit. Although he didn't tell me to, I have some anti-biotics that I started taking yesterday also.

My main concern is an abcess after searching google about tooth pain. It seems like it is something extremely nasty and I am hoping I do not have an infection because I do not have dental insurance, I am having to pay for everything out of pocket. So should I continue to take tylenol/anti-biotics for this week and wait it out, or should I go to the dentist tomorrow? Like I said, the tylenol makes the pain disappear, but when it comes back, it makes my tooth feel like it has a heartbeat.

Thanks to everyone in advance for helping!

 

[Gordon]

It sounds like the nerve in the tooth is dying, the choices are either a root canal treatment or extraction. Sorry. Oh there's not much point in waiting, it's not going to get better without treatment.

 

[myztikal47]

Well as much as I don't want to, I would definitely get a root canal rather than live with the pain but I'm gonna wait it out till next week like the doctor said because like I said when I take the tylenol the pain disappears so I can stick it out a bit longer.

 

[myztikal47]

Also I just wanted to ask, why do you think it started hurting 4days later and not immediately after? Did the dentist not do a well enough job on filling the cavity after drilling it?

 

[Gordon]

No, it's just one of those things I'm afraid.

 

[myztikal47]

The pain is gone!! I didn't take any pain meds today......one thing I forgot to mention was that from reading about everyone elses pain it was due to uneven fillings so I stopped chewing on the left side for the past 2 days and the pain is gone. Though if I do bite down it feels sore so I'm gonna continue not to chew on that side for a bit longer and see what happens from there. Thanks for the help Gordon!!

 

[RP]

Not to burst your happy bubble, but it could be the nerve is completely dead now and that's why you have no pain. I've had a few chronic abscesses that only show on x-ray, they can be asymptomatic but still trouble.

I actually used to wait until my abscesses quit hurting (some pretty sleepless nights with pacing) before I'd go to the dentist, cause then I knew the nerve was dead and the root canal would be easier. Funny how no matter how bad they hurt I always figured the dentist would be worse- Wrong......anyway, hope you're good to go, but still worth getting checked out.

rp

 

[myztikal47]

Not to burst your happy bubble, but it could be the nerve is completely dead now and that's why you have no pain. I've had a few chronic abscesses that only show on x-ray, they can be asymptomatic but still trouble.

I actually used to wait until my abscesses quit hurting (some pretty sleepless nights with pacing) before I'd go to the dentist, cause then I knew the nerve was dead and the root canal would be easier. Funny how no matter how bad they hurt I always figured the dentist would be worse- Wrong......anyway, hope you're good to go, but still worth getting checked out.

rp

Thank you for your advice, I will definitely be going to the dentist this week to get it checked out.

One more question, why is it that when I accidentally touch my tooth with a spoon or a fork I get a weird feeling in the tooth? Would this still happen even if the root is dead?

 

[brit]

Sorry but I would also go with dying/dead nerve theory, when you get the heartbeat sensation in the tooth, it usually means you've passed the point of no return and the nerve needs to be taken out and an rct completed. Definitely try to save it rather than extract.
Since you are in USA, you may want to get the rct done by an endo - so that a better outcome is more likely i.m.h.o....you've already suffered enough with 'wait and see' approaches, it seems.